Vienna Philharmonic confirms empty New Year with Muti
mainThe orchestra will perform its New Year’s Day concert in the empty Golden Hall of the Musikverein. Riccardo Muti, who turns 80 in 2021, will conduct the event for the sixth time.
He says: ‘When the Philharmonic invited me to my first New Year’s concert in 1993, I asked whether they really thought I could do waltzes. But we worked our way through Franz Schubert, his love of life and his melancholy, quite naturally to Johann Strauss.’
“I asked whether they really thought I could do waltzes.”
You just give the downbeat, the orchestra does the rest.
The hard part is getting invited to conduct, not actually the technical part of beating 1-2-3, 1-2-3.
Basically true. After the Boskovsky years, and perhaps with the exception of Lorin Maazel (then Director of the Staatsoper), the New Year Concert in Vienna has become a sort of market. The invited conductor gets the honours, and Sony cashes in.
Conducting dance music brings to mind Beecham’s comment to the orchestra after he raced through a performance of Coppélia. “That made the buggers hop!”
Beating 1-2-3 is easy for any well trained conductor. Getting the lilt right is another matter.
Isn’t the chorus of the Hebrew slaves from Nabucco a waltz?
No, the Chorus os a linda os singed põem.
Back in 1993 Muti asked an excellent, refreshingly honest question.
my grandmother could conduct the VPO. they would
still sound great.
Yes but for the show the conductor is very important Zubin, Mariss, Nikolaus and Georges Pretre are better than Thielmann and Barenboim.
pretre was superb. and he was not so young
Actually of all of the ones I have tuned into, only Carlos Kleiber compelled me to sit up, listen, and put everything else aside.
the only cd I have of the new years day concert
is by Kleiber.
Yes, for non lovers of that music, Kleiber was great.
Karajan? I was at both his and the first Kleiber one and, though the latter was remarkable, the former was really extraordinary.
The 1987 with Karajan is a very very good classic! And Iam not a fan of him. And it was at a moment he has big problems with the BPO. The fact to come in Vienna was special for him
I started looking with Boskowski. Saw wonderful ballets, views of Vienna. Heard beautiful music. Saw our Belgian pride, Anneleen Lenaerts, and Viennese musicians I know.
Now I don’t have to envy all those happy few in the Gouden Zaal. Ouffff
I hope that one day the other Riccardo will come to Vienna the first of January.
Who’s that then? Riccardo Strauss?
Cute. But Concertgebouw is a great admirer of Chailly.
The afternoon of the first of January I always hope that he will come for the next year and there’s someone else they call even if he worked several times with the VPO. But as long as he will be at La Scala I don’t think he would be call. I don’t think that someone ever did the 7th of december in Milan and three weeks later the first of January in Vienna. Barenboim and Abbado did the two events but not in the same 4 weeks.
You are talking about Chailly?
Of course the GOAT for me!
Pierre Boulez agreed with Sam: “The Vienna Philharmonic are the easiest orchestra in the world to conduct. I give the downbeat, and they start playing the middle of next week.”
There was life before television. Starting in 1953, Decca issued three annual LPs of VPO New Year’s programs conducted by Clemens Krauss. Though invisible, they are three of the best, including a marvelous “Mein Lebenslauf ist Lieb und Lust” and the soporific “Die Liebelle”. Even Furtwaengler recorded a “pops” prgram with the VPO for HMV, not a New Year’s, but with the Emperor Waltz and a thunderous “Pizzicato Polka” as Will and Idea.
There was beautiful Johann Strauss II before the War from Weingartner (in Paris!) a melting “Wein, Weib und Gesang:’ Bruno Walter, and a gemuetlich Georg Szell.
Schubert’s waltzes and Laendler are special as heard on the piano from Lili Kraus or Alfred Cortot, as is the Johann Strauss of Alfred Gruenfelt, last imperial court pianist to Franz Josef. Rudolf Buchbinder someimes plays them as encores.
Then there are the children of Vienna, who learn their numbers in school as “one, two, (pause), three; four, five, (pause) six.”
Imagining a Pizzicato Polka als Wille und Vorstellung has brought a wide grin to my face; thanks for that!
Things I could do quite easily:
> coach the 90’s Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan
> coach the New England Patriots with Tom Brady
> conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in waltzes
A concert with no audience? Quite sad. Who is going to enthusiastically clap during the Rakocy March?
My New Year concert favorite moment is there with the great Nikolaus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glb7g949Zg8 Marvelous.
The PBS broadcast of the New Year’s concert with the VPO was more interesting to watch in America when Walter Cronkite was host. He added a reporter’s gravitas to the music, ballet, features on art, and the Sacher torte.
A shame that NBC ABC or CBS don’t broadcast the show
Maybe. If one of the commercial (US) networks broadcast the program, they’d have to stop for ad breaks which would disturb the continuity and cheapen the show. PBS does a good job in letting us Americans see this wonderful tradition. Prosit Neujahr!
Like every year, looking forward to the tv broadcast
PLEASE get rid of those horrible ballet interruptions.
Peasant!
For once I’m not bothered that I didn’t win tickets in the ballot.